Page 42 - Christie's London May 14, 2019 Important Chinese Jades

INFINITE COMPASSION – A WHITE JADE
FIGURE OF GUANYIN

ROSEMARY SCOTT, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC CONSULTANT ASIAN ART

This small, graceful fgure of Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) is beautifully and the ‘pearl of light’ given to Guanyin by the Dragon King in gratitude for
skilfully carved from white jade, and has a double lotus stand in spinach saving his son. The story appears in a 16th century Chinese novel, Complete
green jade. The bodhisattva is elegantly seated on a rocky dais with both Tale of Avalokiteśvara and the Southern Seas (Nanhai Guanyin Quanzhuan).
knees bent and the left foot slightly forward so that her elegant foot According to the story, the third son of the Dragon King was swimming one
protrudes slightly from the draped fabric of her robe. Both her hands are in day in the form of a fsh when he was caught in the net of some fshermen
her lap, holding a sphere. Her robes are well carved and draped naturally over and, being brought to the land, he was unable to regain his dragon form.
her body, the undergarment being tied with a sash across her chest. This While he was on land his father was unable to help him, but the son cried
jade Guanyin does not wear a mantle and her hair, which is fnely-incised to out and his cries were heard by Guanyin, whose full name in Chinese is
suggest its texture, is simply dressed - swept back from her face to fall in Guanshiyin - ‘the one who hears the cries of the world’. Guanyin sent one of
long tied bunches past her shoulders. Her face displays the gentle serenity her disciples, Sudhana (known as Shancai in Chinese), to try and save the
appropriate to a deity known for her infnite compassion. Dragon King’s son, but he had already been brought to market where the fact
that he had remained alive, despite being out of water for so long, had drawn
The face and hair style of the current fgure are reminiscent of those seen a considerable crowd. The disciple tried to buy the Dragon King’s son with
on some of the fnest 17th century fgures of Guanyin from the Dehua kilns. money given to him by Guanyin, but was outbid because it was assumed by
The face and hair of one Dehua fgure in the collection of Sir Percival David other buyers that eating a ‘fsh’ that could live for so long out of water would
(illustrated by Rosemary Scott in Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art give them immortality.
– A Guide to the Collection, London, 1989, p. 97, pl. 99), depicting Guanyin
with a fsh basket, bear a particularly strong resemblance to those of the The disciple pleaded with the fsh monger to spare the life of the ‘fsh’,
current jade fgure. The Percival David Dehua Guanyin has the mark of but the potential buyers protested vociferously and tried to snatch it away.
the ceramic artist He Chaozong impressed into its back. He Chaozong is Guanyin, who was able to project her voice over vast distances, rebuked
perhaps the most admired of all the Dehua potters, and was known for the the crowd saying: ‘A life belongs only to the one who tries to save it and
exquisite modelling of his fgures. The 1763 Gazetteer of Quanzhou Prefecture not to the one who tries to take it’. Thus shamed, the people dispersed and
(Quanzhou fuzhi) noted that He Chaozong created exceptional Buddhist Guanyin’s disciple was able to buy the Dragon King’s son. Guanyin promptly
fgures which were: ‘transmitted and treasured everywhere under heaven’. returned him to the sea where he was able to regain his dragon form. The
Figures by He Chaozong even graced altars in the imperial palace. Dragon King was so grateful that he sent his granddaughter, Longnü, to
present Guanyin with the ‘pearl of light’, a precious night-shining pearl which
The current jade fgure is unusual for the sphere held in her lap. When an constantly emitted light, by which Guanyin would be able to read the sacred
object is held in two hands by seated fgures depicting the Compassionate texts even in the darkest hours of the night. Longnü herself was so in awe
Guanyin, it is usually either a fask or an alms bowl. However, the object held of Guanyin that she requested permission to become Guanyin’s disciple
by the current fgure is a solid sphere and it seems likely that it represents and study the Dharma. Guanyin agreed, but instructed Longnü to become

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